With the launch of the Digital Accelerator in 2020, Amazon further strengthens its commitment to support the digitization and growth of French VSEs and SMEs.
The latest collaboration between the Digital Accelerator and the Women of the Territories network aims to promote access and training to digital tools for French women entrepreneurs, enabling the development of women’s entrepreneurship.
A meeting between two internet entrepreneurs: Athenais de Lime, founder of Be MoJoo and member of Femmes des Territoires, and Sarah Kanj, founder of Levanthym and Amazon trader.
A priori, we don’t sell spices like we sell bike helmets. However, you have both chosen to market your products online. Was it obvious to you?
Sarah: : No way ! Originally, I planned to sell my za’atar (Lebanese spice) to delis and restaurants. But a health crisis and successive arrests decided otherwise. Undeterred and wanting to share the taste of my country of origin with as many people as possible, I have chosen to offer my zaatar online. And since I was an Amazon customer, I quickly thought of the site.
Athenais As for me, I was already working in the digital field, so I didn’t hesitate to set up my e-shop very early on. In my opinion, it is the best tool to check the financial viability and reality of the project. There’s nothing better than a real-size test to understand the market.
What is the impact of e-commerce on your business development?
Athenais E-commerce and social networks have allowed us to be noticed by our large B2B clients throughout France. Today, digital is an accelerator for greater exposure, visibility and growth, but we also want to be present in stores. In my opinion, physical and online businesses are inseparable in building strong brands and reassuring all our customers.
Sarah: My box wouldn’t exist without Amazon. I benefit from the unexpected visibility for a small business like mine. I sell all over Europe from my workshop in Strasbourg. My zaatar is shipped to Italy, Spain, Germany. I would never have managed to do this myself with my website. Today, 60% of my turnover comes from sales through Amazon.
Sarah, how does Amazon support you every day?
Sarah: What really changes my life is primarily the logistics. At first, I made the packages myself, but it took a lot of time and I quickly got lost. I preferred to delegate the logistics part to Amazon. My supplies are in their warehouses, they take care of everything. It is the tool that allows me to easily offer my products beyond my region, to the whole of France and even to the whole of Europe. And if a customer has a problem with their order, there’s nothing I can do, Amazon handles it. It’s a huge time saver.
What does a digital accelerator represent to you? And how do you feel about the collaboration with Femmes des Territoires?
Athenais Many entrepreneurs today want to go digital, but don’t know how. This collaboration is a fantastic lever to assure the entrepreneurs of Femmes des Territoires in their ability to digitize. This is all the more so because Digital Accelerator’s offering is very broad and hyper-useful, regardless of its stage of development. I have already participated master class on marketsmy topic of the moment!
Sarah: The digital accelerator allows us to follow the trainings that interest us, it is very flexible and free. I hope this initiative will encourage women artisans like me to embark on an entrepreneurial adventure.
Digital Accelerator, Amazon’s free digital learning program, guides French entrepreneurs in online transition step by step… More than 20,000 of them have already joined it.
Source: Le Figaro
